Lansing City Council: Red Cedar sale slides through, Waverly sinks

AP File PhotoThe Lansing City Council placed the sale of the Red Cedar Golf Course on the ballot. A companion proposal for the Waverly Golf Course failed.

In an ending that few saw coming, the resolution placing the sale of the Red Cedar Golf Course on the ballot in November passed easily, 6-2, but the companion proposal doing the same for the Waverly Golf Course and adjacent park went down in flames, 3-5.

That seemed to be the general consensus, as Jeffries, Hewitt, Quinney, At-Large Councilwoman Carol Wood and Council President A'Lynne Robinson voted the Waverly proposal down.

Prior to the final votes Monday, Jeffries explained why he planned to vote against both proposals.

"I am not going to be supporting this, primarily for one reason: the issue of the parks itself," he said. "We have 132 acres tonight up for consideration. I view park property as essential to an urban area like the City of Lansing, and (I think) we need to preserve it."

Jeffries noted his confusion as to why the proposed sales were not part of the city's parks master planning process. He said none of these plans were talked about at that time.

However, Jeffries said he supported the environmental improvements slated for the Red Cedar property, which would happen regardless of the outcome of the ballot question.

Hewitt, in explaining his position, declared that the voters had already spoken three times, citing the Parks Master Plan as one example. He also referenced a plan he attributed to Mayor Virg Bernero and an "Eastside Development Plan."

One shocker, even for some on the dais, was At-Large Councilwoman Carol Wood's support for the Red Cedar proposal. Wood managed to strike the most conciliatory tone of the bunch when she said, "I don't support selling off park property, but I have faith in the public, in the voters who have supported the parks millage."